Johnny Rotten

John Lydon looked out at the crowd – a motley collection of old-school punk-rock fans, curious onlookers and balding Brits, most of whom seemed to be the 40-60 age group – and handicapped his chances of leading a successful sing-along with “Sun,” the little-known single from his 1997 solo album, “Psycho’s Path.”

“This should be either really (expletive) horrible or really alright,” the 54-year-old vocalist concluded.

The same outcomes seemed plausible for this concert on Saturday night at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. Fans really didn’t know what to expect when Lydon brought his band Public Image Ltd (aka, PiL) to town on its first tour in more than 17 years. The end result, however, was less “really (expletive) horrible” and more “really alright.” Continue Reading →

That much is clear as the famed Bay Area music photographer recounts a shoot from a few years back with eccentric songsmith Tom Waits. The story was told at lightning-fast speed, lasted some 20 minutes and included humorous anecdotes about riding in the car with Waits (who did woodpecker imitations while driving), jumping barbed-wire fences and chasing the star down a dusty driveway in the middle of nowhere. If Blakesberg took a breath while reliving the moment, it wasnâ€™t apparent.

â€œThatâ€™s a true story,â€ finished Blakesberg, smiling broadly. â€œYouâ€™ve got to wonder if that kind of (expletive) happens to Tom Waits every day.â€

The images of that odyssey, as well as pictures from hundreds of other equally intriguing musical trips, can be found in the photographerâ€™s new career retrospective, â€œTraveling on a High Frequency: Jay Blakesberg Photographs 1978-2008.â€ Blakesberg will celebrate the release of this hard cover coffee table book with a signing/party on Tuesday (Nov. 11) at the Independent in San Francisco. The public is invited to attend and admission is free.

The book, which retails for $40, is vastly impressive, numbering 304 pages and containing exquisite images of such rock â€˜nâ€™ rollers as Phish, Bjork, R.E.M., Nirvana, U2, Radiohead, Dave Matthews and Carlos Santana. Its most immediately arresting characteristic is the sheer magnitude of pics displayed â€“ some shown full page, others in multi-image collages.Continue Reading →